That Which Obscures
by Ice Cream Social
Summary: On a business trip to Denver, Mr. Tweak contracts a mysterious sickness. Nobody realises what kind of danger this really means for South Park and it's residents...especially for his son, Tweek. Slash, non-slash, various pairings. Creek.
1. Chapter 1

I think I should try to write something "normal" for South Park before jumping into something crazy like this, but oh well. I think I know the characters well enough to write them.

This will be disturbing on different levels, and it's reflected in the rating. It's all gore and stuff like that. I hate it when you're watching a horror movie and there's a random sex scene. I want horror, not porn! Sheesh.

Character deaths and such, gore, slash, non-slash, profanity...brace yourselves. Various pairings.

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**Health Regulations..**  
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They traveled everywhere often enough, so this three-week long lack of the Tweak family in South Park wasn't unusual. Their business with Harbucks had skyrocketed; Mrs. Tweak ran Tweek Bros. herself, and hired other people to do what she didn't, as did Mr. Tweak with Harbucks. Their twitchy son worked at both off and on, but Tweek preferred Harbucks because Craig worked with him. Knowing this was enough to make Craig insanely happy.

Craig sighed, slouching back waywardly in his desk chair, sitting at his computer. He and Tweek were pretty close, so Craig didn't like the months where his parents would up and drag him along on their coffee conventions and business trips. As if the kid didn't have enough caffeine in his life.

_Hey dude. U got work 2nite? _Clyde texted lazily. Craig snorted at the lack of grammar and replied with, _Yea Spaz and his rents r comin bak "tonight"_. Guilty as charged with the bad grammar.

_Ur a jerk, Craig._ The raven haired teen smirked at his cell phone and pocketed it without replying; Clyde would just whine at him about his lack of a babe to date. Their high school was fairly big, as it had the entire teenage population of all the surrounding parks filling it. North Park, East Park and West Park high school students were all sent to South Park, high...making it freaking huge. It ranged from grade nine to grade twelve and after high school upgrading.

Craig was sixteen, with summer vacation rolling around the end of the month. He wasn't excited for grade eleven or anything; he was content with being with the people in his life, as they were.

He liked to make fun of the other Park kids, though. They had to drive an hour give or take just to get into their sad little town every morning. Craig only had to walk twenty minutes or take a five minute bus ride.

Craig Tucker pivoted his chair to look at his electric clock on his nightstand; he had to work at six. It was five-thirty now, so he figured he might as well get moving. Craig changed into the appropriate _Harbucks_ uniform, the black button-up shirt with the dark red slacks, and then he pulled his toque and parka on and left his room after shutting down his computer.

Ruby was making dinner, Craig noticed, and he couldn't help but say something. "Hey, Rube, don't burn the house down while I'm at work, okay?"

His younger sister whipped around, her orange blonde ponytail flying into her face as she did. Her hands were covered in blood from a steak and she held a sharp knife. She flipped him off with her free hand. "Screw you, Craig! Don't call me Rube!"

Craig returned the gesture. "Yeah, yeah. See ya, Ruby."

"Bring me back a latte! Non-fat!"

"Okay, if you save me dinner."

Craig didn't have to look back at the red-headed girl to know she was aiming her favorite finger at him, and he didn't bother with it. Craig stepped out the door and was down the stairs, feeling good for no particular reason. Perhaps it was because he could see Tweek when they got back; Tweek always came to see Craig first thing when this family returned from their trips.

Craig's cheeks burned. He and Tweek were best friends; they had been since grade five, before which in grade four they decided that hating each other for the amusement of Stan's group was stupid. They had been friends before the incident, and not long after worked it out between the two of them. After growing closer in grade five, they became best friends, and were as such to this day, five years later.

For Craig though, it was different. Craig had liked Tweek since grade eight, and he couldn't understand why; Tweek was neurotic, twitchy, probably insane...and absolutely adorable. Craig had held to his feelings pretty closely, and nobody except Token knew about how much Craig had liked the blonde. Only Token knew because Clyde would flip shit, and Token didn't really care if Craig was into girls, guys, animals...whatever. Token didn't care about what Craig liked as long as it had nothing to do with him. Tweek came close since he, Craig, Tweek and Clyde had been a group since forever, but Token said as long as they didn't mak in front of him, he was cool with it.

Stupid Token. What a jerk. He listened and nodded when Craig would "gush" about Tweek though, so he couldn't complain.

It was snowing pretty lightly. The snowflakes were soft and fell slowly; Craig held out a mitten-enclosed hand to stop and admire the crystal patterns that fell on the wool. He loved the quiet weather like this.

Craig's cell vibrated. He pulled it out as he approached Harbucks, in all its huge gloriousness. It was a text from Tweek. A smile immediately plastered itself to Craig's face.

_Srry 2 bug u. R u goin to work?_

Craig's fingers flew. _Yea. I work until 9. When r u bak? _

Harbucks was in front of him, but he had sixteen minutes before he had to work. Screw waiting for Tweek to reply. The black-haired boy had Tweek on speed-dial of course. Craig didn't have to wait long for the blonde to answer his call.

_"Ngh! Craig?"_

"Hey, man. I have to get off pretty quick, I work at 6...but I thought I'd call and ask when you'd be back." Craig's stupid heart rate was going a mile a minute.

_"P-pretty soon. I think maybe an hour. Do you want me to, ack, work with y-you?"_

Craig blinked. What? "...You mean, you'd actually work...like...overtime? You already work tons, Tweek. I'm fine by myself. You'll be tired as soon as you get back, won't you?" More than anything, Craig wanted to tell Tweek how great that would make him feel; but that was too gay to say out loud.

_"GAH! I-it's fine, C-Craig. I don't sleep anyways. Besides, there's ton's of, ngh, coffee." _Craig smiled into the phone, and he knew Tweek was smiling too._ "...And I...I-I missed you. Sweet Jesus!"_

Craig had to use every bit of him not to blush, or sound as if he wasn't ecstatic to hear that. "I missed you too, Tweek. Sure, if you think you can handle it, it would be cool of you. I gotta go, okay?"

_"Ngh. Okay, C-Craig. See ya later."_

"Bye, babe." Craig added with a chuckle, and he hung up, without hearing Tweek's no doubt spastic response to the nickname. He glanced at his phone, and the conversation had taken seven minutes, which gave him enough time to get ready for work.

Craig walked into Harbucks, to see Red leaning against the counter, looking bored while flipping through some girly fashion magazine. As soon as Craig walked in though, she looked up, and her whole face lit up.

"Ooh, Craig! You're a little early..." Craig rolled his eyes and groaned inwardly. He was s_o_ glad he didn't share a shift with Red...although Thomas often worked the same shift. Thomas was a cool guy. "Was it because you couldn't wait to see me?" Red batted her mascara-coated lashes at him, and Craig just shrugged.

"Nope. I just didn't have anything better to do, not that it's any of your business."

"_Assface_!" Craig looked up, to see Thomas coming from the back room, taking off his apron. "Oh, hey, Craig! How are -_numbnuts_!- you?" Thomas was grinning genuinely at him, and Craig grinned back.

"I'm good, thanks. You?" Red huffed, going back to her magazine, not without looking at a clock first.

"I'm pretty good. _Cock_! Do you know when -_faggot!_- Tweek and his parents are back? _Shit!_" Craig stifled a laugh at Thomas's placement of "faggot" before "Tweek"...not that Tourettes was funny or anything. Thomas had been throughourly pissed at him for thinking his disorder was cool, and actually managed to take advantage of him for a full month to make him learn his lesson. Craig Tucker was _never_ taken advantage of.

"i just talked to Tweek, actually. He says he should be back in an hour." Red stood up, and snatched her magazine away from the counter, clearly aggrivated; she was making it clear she did not like the fact he was paying more attention to Thomas than her. "The crazy nut wants to work as soon as he gets back! The hell is wrong with him?"

Craig had asked this with a grin, and he had intended it to be a rhetorical question; Thomas decided to answer however. "Maybe he misses you -_bitch_! He goes on those stupid trips all the -_boner!_-time, you know." Thomas had a look on his face that made Craig think he knew more than he let on; the blonde just shrugged however. "Well, I'm done my shift. _Shit!_ See ya later, Craig!" The teen dissappeared into the backroom again. Red came out then, making an unsavory face at Craig, before changing it into some kind of strange, unreadable smile.

"See ya later, Craig. Tell twitchy that I said hi, okay?" She brushed past him, with her blood red miniskirt hugging her hips, and her high heels clicking under her. She added a wink just before she was out of Craig's line of sight though, confusing him slightly. Did she _like_ the way Craig ignored her?

Thomas left, and Craig bid him goodbye. Girls are just _way_ too is the thought Craig settled with after he had gotten himself ready for work.

Craig was just in the middle of making a frappucino for a customer when Tweek came through the door. The black haired teen just about knocked over the milk jug while reaching for it, completely forgetting what he was doing when Tweek made his way over to the counter.

"_Ngh_. Hey, C-Craig. How're you?" The blonde was dressed in the appropriate Harbuck uniform, but of course his black shirt wasn't buttoned-up properly; Tweek's hair was also long enough to merit a short ponytail, and he had a few hair clips pulling strands out of his face. Craig was grinning like an idiot.

"Tweek! Dude! How're you?" The customer raised an eyebrow, watching the two boys converse; Craig was leaning against the counter, with a grin plastered to his face. Of course, Craig was oblivious to how he was so clearly into Tweek. The customer was Token, who just sighed.

Token reached over and jabbed Craig, who whirled around looking not entirely pleased. "I'm going home, I really don't want to be around when you guys start swapping spit. You owe me a latte. Bye, Craig." Token paused to grin at Tweek; Craig of course flicked the black boy off. Which in turn, Token ignored. "Hey, man. See ya around, okay?" The dark skinned boy waited until Tweek nodded, and then turned and left, not wanting to be around while Craig and Tweek were in the same space.

Tweek made a face. "Sweet Jesus! Did I do that? _Ngh._"

Craig crossed his arms, watching Token climb into his expensive convertible through the foggy bay window. He frowned; Token promised not to tell anyone, but he went and said things like that so easily. "No, Token's just being an ass." He looked back to the twitchy blonde. "So how was the convention?"

Tweek shrugged. "I-I dunno, man..." Tweek opened his mouth to say something, but then he glimpsed at the frappucino Craig had been making. "Ooh! C-Craig, you're the best at making those._ Gah_! C-can I have that?" Tweek pointed a finger at the lonely hot beverage.

The raven haired boy smiled. "Of course." Craig reached over and passed it to Tweek, who snatched it from him eagerly. Craig watched the blonde teen shoot it back before posing the question again, but Tweek pulled the cup away from him and distracted him before he could ask.

Tweek sighed, grinning stupidly after his long drink from the cup. "O-oh _man_, Craig. _Ngh._ You have no idea how w-well you make those." Tweek had a white line on his top lip and over it from the foam and the liquid. Craig blinked at it and flushed, as the jittery boy next to him seemed oblivious to it. Craig reached over the counter again, grabbing a napkin. He leaned towards Tweek, who seemed to be instantly taken off his frappucino high from his friend's sudden closeness. Craig pressed the napkin to Tweek's lips, trying his hardest not to look into those large brown eyes that were staring him down, but he did anyways. Craig blushed, and wiped the foam and liquid away, and dabbed at the areas.

"_Gah!_ W-what the hell was that, Craig?" Tweek was a little pink himself.

Craig's face was hot, and he knew he was blushing. "Uh, well, you had some foam and stuff on your face from the frapp. I was just wiping it off..." He paused to look at the blonde, who seemed to be buying that. "...It looked like, you know..." Craig made an obscene jesture to below below the belt, and Tweek instantly shrieked.

"O-oh God!" Tweek reached into his hair. "_Waaaay_ too much pressure!"

"Tweek." There was a different voice suddenly, that caused both Craig and Tweek to jump and Tweek held back a surprised scream, while Craig himself yelped a little. They whirled around to towards the back room, where was standing...or rather, swaying. "I'm...uhhhhg, I'll be in the bathroom, hnnnng..." The man turned towards the interior of the backroom, presumably towards the staff bathroom.

Craig stared at the spot where Tweek's dad had stood, and then turned to his smaller friend and breathed, "What the _hell_ is wrong with your Dad? Is he sick?"

Tweek shrugged. "I-I have no idea! _Gah!_ He's been like that all day! He was throwing up all the way on the drive home." Tweek wrinkled his nose. _"_O-oh Jesus, what if he's caught some kind of horrible flu and pukes all his guts up? W-who'll run the store? Mom can't run Tweek Bros. and Harbucks all by herself..." Tweek's face paled. "Oh God! She'll have to sell a store, and what if that's not enough? S-she'll sell me into slavery! _Gah!_"

Craig rolled his eyes and pulled his favorite blonde into a hug. "He won't throw up his guts, and he'll keep Harbucks, and your Mom won't sell any coffee shops, and she won't sell you into slavery." Craig noticed that Tweek's constant trembling and shaking had lessened. Craig pulled away, holding the smaller teenager by the shoulders, and smiled gently at him. "I won't let her sell you into slavery. I'd come and get you myself."

Tweek grinned. "T-that makes me feel _ngh_, a lot better. T-thanks, man."

"You're welcome." Craig nodded his approval. "Now, what about your Dad? Tell me more...without any theories, if you don't mind."

Tweek nodded. "Uh, well...h-he went out early this morning, into the city to get us a travel supply of coffee for the road back." Craig tried not to roll his eyes. "A-and when he came back, he said he didn't feel good. _Ngh_. My Mom had to d-drive all the way back." Tweek looked alarmed. "Jesus Christ, dude! D-do you know how much _pressure_ that was? _Hck!_ She sucks ass at driving!"

"Tweek." Craig reminded, tapping his best friend on the nose. "No freaking out, okay?"

Tweek pursed his lips. "_Ngh,_ sorry...but yeah. The whole time he had his head out the window, and he was p-puking all sorts of shit. _Gah!_ Close to when we got home, he stopped, but...he looks..._gah!_ Different." Tweek glanced at the doorway to the backroom. "I-I hope he's okay..."

Craig could only see some of 's face, the shade of the backroom had obscured his features. Craig frowned. _Was_ it the shade that had made his face look so...different? The usually healthily glowing man looked a shade of grey, and his eyes appeared to be sunken in. Craig shook his head. "Lord. I am _not_ leaving you alone with that after my shift is done."

Tweek cocked a brow at him. "P-pourquoi?"

The brunnette shrugged. "He's sick, dude. You probably couldn't handle all that by yourself."

"Oh God! You're right! S-so much pressure!" Tweek's hands had flown to his hair, but Craig pried his hands away before he could pull any out. "W-what if those freaking underwear g-gnomes come and get us while we're going home? _Gah!_ W-we'd be defenseless!"

Craig smirked. "Geez, all you would have to do is call me like you _always_ do, and I'd run the little bastards off. I'd freak them out with my Incan prophesy." Craig mock flexed, making his best friend giggle.

"Ooh, y-you're so, _ngh_, intimidating. Would you do that f-for anyone else, Tucker? _Gah!_" Tweek mocked back, acting girlish on purpose; their guy friends were comfortable enough with each other and their sexualities to flirt openly with each other. Guys like Cylde loved to do it, because it made the girls giggle over him; Craig just liked to flirt with Tweek and have it seem "okay".

Craig pursed his lips. "Oh, hell no, dude." He leaned over Tweek, which was easy, since Craig was one of the tallest in their grade, and Tweek's growth had slowed in about grade nine. The black-haired boy slipped his fingers around Tweek's chin, lifting his face up to face his, making Tweek's face redden, as he laughed quietly, still acting girlish. "Nobody but you, babe." Craig winked at him before stealing a kiss, planting one right on Tweek's nose. The blonde shrieked, pushing Craig back and his face reddening about twice the previous amount.

Craig couldn't help but laugh at his friend's reaction. "D-damnit, Craig! Sweet Jesus, you always take these jokes to the next level! _Nghh!_" Tweek faced his back to Craig, pouting.

Craig glanced at the door; no customers in sight, and they were right next to the counter anyways. "Aww, baby, don't be like that." Craig was pushing his luck, he knew; but it _was_ fun to tease Tweek the way he did. Craig pulled the blonde into a one-armed side hug. "I thought, you know, we were cool like that." Tweek glanced over tentatively at Craig, who then licked his lips.

"Aww, C-Craig! _Gah!_" Tweek looked away, covering his hand in his face. "I-I hate you so much right now. _Ngh!_"

Craig put his hands on his hips, and noticed a customer walking towards the store. The raven-haired boy walked behind the counter, leaning on it casually, aiming a shit-eating grin at Tweek. "Ah, you love it. Now come on, stop being a fag about it, we have a customer."

It was Butter's dad, and he ordered the fruitiest beverage possible, making both Craig and Tweek glance at each other, barely holding in their amusement. It had sprinkles and everything; the man also ordered a cupcake. "This is for the Missus, she loves _Harbucks_ so." The man stated, bending his wrist in a dismissive fashion. Craig bullshitted about having to turn off an oven before it blew up after he made the drink, so Tweek handled the rest of the purchase, grinning at the man.

After left, Craig was heard laughing loudly from the backroom; the two boys apparently had forgotten about .

"Oh dude, I can't even _look_ at him right anymore. Poor, poor Butters. It's obviously genetic, ya know...?" Craig stated, after their laughing fits had subsided. Tweek nodded back with a huge smile.

"T-the fuck was with the 'burning oven' bit, dude? _Gah!_" Craig shrugged. "Not fair leaving me alone with that! _Ngh._" Tweak paused for a minute, and then looked at Craig with a mischevious look in his eye. "Did you know, Butters drinks the same thing? Sometimes with a shot of hazelnut or something. He giggled.

Then there was a loud sound coming from the backroom, making both the teens pause, and look back to the room. Tweek's dad had been in there for about an hour so far. Craig glanced at Tweek, suddenly unnerved. "Do you think he's been...barfing that whole time? Jesus."

Tweek shivered. "_Ngh._ I-I hope he's okay. He's been acting so w-weird all day." The pair fell silent for a minute, as the noises continued. Tweek looked up at Craig, worry etched all over his pretty face. "What k-kind of flu makes someone, _ngh_, puke all damn day? _Gah!_ D-don't people like, feel better after the first few times and...g-get better? Oh, God!"

Craig shook his head. "I dunno. Maybe...do you think we should call Hell's Pass?" Craig slung his arm around Tweek's shoulders, and the blonde inched closer to his friend, looking increasingly worried about his father's state. A low gurgling errupted from the backroom; Tweek yelped and clung to Craig. Craig frowned, and tightened his grip around his best friend. "...I-I think...I think I'll ask him how he's doing. Be prepared to call the ambulance, okay?" Tweek nodded, and detatched himself to pull out his cell phone, going against the health regulations he followed like a bible.

"Sir?" Craig walked into the backroom entrance, and walked slowly towards the staff bathroom, just a few feet away. Another gurgle. Craig frowned. "Sir? ?" There was a low moan. ", are you okay? Should we call the hospital for you?"

There was a pause, and the sound of something hitting the wall. Craig didn't want to know what. "N-nooo. Ugggh! I...I'm, uuugh, alright. Don't call Hell's Pass..."

"...Sir?" Craig approached the door, listening closely. He glanced back at Tweek, who was peeking around the corner, armed with his cell phone.

"T-They...they'll shut this place down...uuuugh." A gurgle. "H-health regulations..."

Craig sighed. was okay if he was still talking about health regulations and, ultimately, still thinking about coffee over all else. "Alright, sir. Please let Tweek and I know if you need anything, though." There was a groan in reply, and Craig stepped away from the door, feeling as if something was wrong; but if he was still thinking coffee, he was okay. The spastic blonde was clutching his cell phone to his chest, eyes wide, as Craig stepped out of the room.

"S-so?"

Craig pulled some of his long bangs out of his face; by rights, he should have some hair clips too, but like hell he was wearing something gay like that. It wasn't "gay" for Tweek to do it though, he was cute enough to pull it off. The boy sighed. "I'm guessing he's okay...well, not okay, if he's still puking like mad." Craig winced. "But he's still talking coffee, and I guess he knows something I don't about health regulations. That's what he was saying."

Tweek frowned, shivering like nuts. "O-oh, God. I don't know! _Gah!_" His hands flew to his hair, his cell phone dropping to the floor with a clatter. Craig grabbed his wrists before his fingers could tangle into his blonde locks however, and Craig pulled Tweek closer. Tweek blinked. "_N-ngh._ Damn, dude, y-you're fast."

Craig grinned suggestively. "You have no idea. Wanna find out?"

Tweek sighed and shoved Craig away. "N-not funny. I-I'm kinda scared...what's wrong with my Dad? J-Jesus!" Tweek looked insecure, wringing his apron in his hands, looking down at the floor, shifting uncomfortably. He looked like he wanted to cry.

Craig smacked himself mentally. "...I'm sorry. You're right. I'll stop messing around. But...what do you want to do about this?"

Tweek shook his head, and threw his arms out. "How the, _ngh,_ hell s-should I fricking know? _Gah!_ T-there's something wrong with my D-Dad!"

The door opened, and a few girls walked into the shop. Craig was about to hug Tweek, but that was probably against some kind of health regulations...of course. Wendy, Bebe and Heidi were amoung the group of girls that walked in.

They looked the two boys over, giggling and whispering to themselves. Heidi walked up to the counter. "Hey, Craig. Hi, Tweekie." She smiled coquettishly at them, and waggled her fingers. "Could I get a tazo chai, non-fat, skim milk?"

"Me too, gorgeous!" Some girl Craig didn't recognize called out at him, and Wendy and Bebe nodded, and agreed, calling out something similar. Craig frowned.

"Thanks, babe." Heidi walked over to the side of the counter, where the lattes were placed for customers to grab when their orders were finished. The other three girls joined her.

"Four non-fat, skim milk tazo chai lattes..." Craig paused. "What size do you want?"

The girls flushed and burst out in loud giggles. Craig sighed, slapping a hand over his eyes and groaning. He heard Tweek mutter something behind him. "Ooh, Craig! Grande!" There were some immature bodily reference passed around the girls, which Craig chose to ignore.

"...Grande, Tweek." Craig muttered, and punched the order into the register, and he heard the machines come to life behind him; no doubt Tweek working his magic. Heidi paid with Craig glaring at her vehemently the whole time; not only had the tarts spoiled the perfect moment for Craig to hug Tweek, they had to be whores about it.

Craig joined Tweek in making the lattes. It didn't take long, since Tweek had spazzed through most of the process already; he was crazy fast and crazy good at his job.

Craig and Tweek brought the lattes to the counter, and Craig didn't spare the girls another glance; Tweek on the other hand, told them their order was up. Craig looked over at Tweek; he was almost standing on his tip toes, to put his elbows in the counter, so he could call out at the girls wasting space on the Harbucks couches. Craig's eyes travelled, looking the boy up and down; Tweek had really nice legs, a small, slender back...and of course, a great ass. Craig didn't even bother hiding the fact he was checking Tweek out, and leaned against a counter lazily. Bebe and the random girl with them glared at Craig, and he looked up at them; and flipped them off.

"Thanks, darling." Heidi grinned at Tweek; Tweek was pushing the last latte toward the girls. Bebe decided to reach up then, and brushed hands with the small blonde. Tweek made a squeaking noise, and the girls giggled again. Bebe batted her eyes at Tweek.

"Yeah, thanks, cutie." She looked back upat Craig, and flipped him back off. What was it about Craig Tucker that pissed the girls off? Well, Craig Tucker pissed almost everyone off, but girls especially.

Maybe it was the fact that he dug his best friend, and not their flippant ways of snaring boys like Clyde into their conniving ways. Craig flashed his favorite finger at them all. The girls left, after giving him a few nasty looks and grinning and smiling over Tweek.

"I-I can't stand, _ngh_, girls like them. Jesus..." Tweek commented, frowning after the girls retreating forms down the street. Craig grinned, and snaked an arm around the blonde's small waist; earning him a five-foot leap from the ground from Tweek. "_GAH!_ C-Craig!"

"I'm glad, dude. Those girls are no good for a guy like you."

Tweek squirmed in Craig's hold, but made no effort in pulling away; he was blushing, actually. "O-oh yeah? W-what kind of a girl would be, _ngh,_ good for me then?" Tweek ventured, raising and eyebrow at the black-haired boy starting to rub his side.

"Hmm..." Craig paused, halting all movement from his hands, looking thoughtful. Tweek was awaiting an answer when Craig's hand dropped to his rear, and he grabbed a handful. Tweek screamed, jumping away from Craig like he was on fire.

"_GAH! C-CRAIG!_" Tweek's cheeks were burning. Craig rocked slightly on his feet, shoving his hands into his pockets and whistling. "_Augh!_ This is just _way _too much p-pressure, dude!" Tweek crumped his apron in his hands.

The rest of their shift passed without much incident, except for Craig being overly touchy-feely with his "best friend". Tweek would brush off most of what the other male did, blushing sometimes, other times freaking out. Nothing was heard of for the rest of their shift, except towards the very end.

Craig and Tweek were preparing to close the shop, washing surfaces, mashines and equiment, sweeping and mopping. While they were cleaning, running water could be heard from the backroom.

"Maybe he's washing up. I guess he's ready to come out now." Craig suggested to Tweek, trying to be positive. Craig wasn't often positive, but around Tweek, he felt best; and he hated to see his jittery best friend so down.

"Y-yeah, maybe..._ngh._" Tweek muttered, staring at the floor he was mopping. Craig was done about everything he had to do.

Craig's phone buzzed, and he flicked it open to see a text from Ruby. It read, _Dad says tht if ur not home 10 aftr 10 hell give ur dinner to the dog_. Craig frowned. What time was it now? After viewing the message, he looked at the clock on his phone; he had five minutes before his meal was his dog's. He clicked his tounge in irritation.

"Hey, Tweek," Craig called over to the blonde, as he grabbed his parka and chullo from the backroom, and tossed his apron into the appropriate place. Tweek looked up from the windows, where he was organizing some magazines. Craig shifted uncomfortably; Tweek looked so _worried_; but Craig hadn't eaten since noon, and he wouldn't for the rest of the night if he didn't get home quick. "I...uh, I hate to say this...but, are you okay with me leaving? Ruby texted me and said if I'm not home in five, my Dad will give my dinner to Truffle."

Tweek's eyebrows rose. "O-oh, that's kind of, _ngh,_ mean..." Tweek glanced at the backroom, behind Craig. Craig felt bad, but he would feel pretty bad about not eating for half a day after being surrounded with food all day, too. Tweek looked over and Craig, and half-smiled. "Yeah, dude. G-go home. Have a good supper, okay? I'll call my mom and have her pick us up... She-she'll be getting off work now, anyways. _Ack_."

Craig's heart melted. Craig took a few quick running steps to his best friend and lifted him up in a giant hug. Tweek freaked out, dropped the mop, and clung to Craig's head. Craig laughed, spun them around once, and then put Tweek back on the ground. Tweek shuddered, cheeks coloring due to the sudden act. Craig was smiling from ear to ear.

"Hey, Tweek?"

Tweek was trying to smooth out his apron, after he had realised he was crushing it in his hands again. He looked up at Craig. "_Gah!_ Yeah, C-Craig?"

"Love you, dude." Craig leaned forwards and planted a small kiss on Tweek's lips, holding his against the other boy's for a few seconds. Craig blushed bright red, but he didn't pause to look at Tweek's reaction and ran for the door. "Bye! Call me if you need help with anything!"

And with that, Craig Tucker was out the door, dashing as fast as he could down the snowy street. He left Tweek Tweak standing there in Harbucks, standing still, with his eyes wide and face redder than Kyle's hair.

"H-he..." Tweek covered his mouth, and then pulled his hands away. His lips tingled. "T-that bastard, _ngh_, stole my first fucking kiss! S-sweet Jesus!"

I couldn't help but add a ton of fluff in there. I wasn't actually planning a lot of what happened in this chapter to happen...Craig, you were supposed to kiss him later, damnit!

Well, I thought it was cute. I hardly write anymore, so it's probably all coming out now. Not like anyone's complaining, right?

This is the fluffy chapter, the calm before the storm, so-to-speak. There will be a lot of horror, and there won't be a lot of chances to write romance (I think) through the chaos that will happen rather soon. So I hope you enjoyed it!


	2. Beating Like a Hammer

I've been struggling with some aspects of this story which I thought I wouldn't have any problems with. Initially, I thought I would have this go with different character POVs each chapter, but this is proving to be very difficult.

I like writing for Craig, even though he's kind of a pussy around Tweek. I like Tweek, 'cause he's pretty unique. I think maybe I'll use mostly them, and switch to using other characters when the plot needs it.

Let me know what you think? That'd be great. If I use Craig and Tweek mostly (which I think I probably will) Craig won't be such a pansy, and Tweek...will probably be mostly the same.

Tweek sat around one of the many coffee tables, holding a fresh cup of Harbucks coffee. 's coffee shop didn't close until eleven o'clock; meaning he had a lot of time to kill. The blonde had caved into his anxiety, and made another batch of coffee to calm himself down. He'd cleaned everything up again, since he really didn't have anything better to do.

Craig had kissed him.

Tweek leant back into the plush couch, sighing deeply. His thin hands still clutched at the large, hot cup of coffee, as he stared at the ceiling. One of his hands left the cup, tracing his lips, where his best friend had kissed him not twenty minutes ago.

_Craig_ had _kissed_ him.

Tweek had completely freaked out after Craig had booked it. At first he was shocked, and then he melted, and then he realized that maybe, maybe, just _maybe_ he had better than a snowball's chance in hell of Craig liking him. That is, liking him _back_. And thus, Tweek freaked out, and tripped over a coffee table full of magazines. The blonde rubbed at a bruise that was forming on his knee from the fall subconsciously.

The sound of running water had stopped not too much longer after Craig left. Tweek had gathered as much courage as he possessed and went and asked his Father if he was okay. There wasn't a real reply, just the sound of something wet hitting the floor; Tweek guessed he was going back to puking shit up. That wasn't what really concerned him at the moment, though. He was really concerned for his dad, but after Craig kissed him, the jet-black haired teenager took over all his thoughts.

Tweek didn't have a whole lot of self esteem; he had been avoided for most of the whopping sixteen years he had lived, and he knew it. The blonde couldn't really help how he acted, since his parents had always given him coffee, and he just _loved_ it. He had hung out with Stan's group a lot when he was younger as a replacement for Kenny; and they later discarded him. Tweek had felt bad about their loss of Kenny and even though they weren't the nicest people in the world, he pitied them. Luckily enough for him, Craig, Clyde and Token forgave him and accepted him into their group again after Stan's group didn't want him around anymore. As far as he could remember, he recalled that Kyle was nice, and so was Stan; Cartman was mostly the one who ragged on him. They got into too many weird things though; he probably wouldn't have been almost abducted and other kinds of crap if he hadn't tried to fill in Kenny's void to make them feel better.

Tweek didn't mind them as much as Craig did, though; Craig would flip them off if they ever tried to talk to him, or something as simple as Stan or Kyle being nice and waving 'hello' would earn Craig's middle finger. It was true that they had been jerks to Tweek at times, but they were nice, too. Craig was still pissed over the Peru thing, and he had told the blonde that even _talking_ to them invited more weird bullshit to happen. Apparently their attitudes pissed him off, too.

Tweek pulled his phone out; it was 10:26. The blonde sighed and pocketed his cell again, and picked up a magazine, considering texting Craig and asking him to hang with him until his Mom picked them up. Tweek had texted her what was going on, and she had agreed to drive them home. At the same time, Tweek wasn't sure if he was ready to face Craig after being kissed.

The sound of the bathroom door opening made Tweek jump up out of his seat, and look in the direction of the sound.

Mr. Tweak came out if the bathroom, hunched over, clutching at his stomach. His blonde son was about to ask him if he was okay, before stepped out of the shade of the backroom, and into the light of the main part of Harbucks.

The man's eyes were glazed over and yellowish, making his pupils almost impossible to see. His eyes had sank even farther into his skull than before, with dark shadows surrounding them; his cheeks had also sunken in with the same dark shadows showing where his cheekbones jutted out. What had most of Tweek's attention was where blood had dripped down over his chin from his mouth, and a lot had stained the front of his sweater. He appeared to be horribly skinny from what Tweek could see. His father had also turned a pale grey.

"O-oh God! D-Dad! W...what's wrong? S-should I call the ambulance?" Tweek was truly afraid for his Dad; at the same time, something in the back of his head told him that something was wrong, but he couldn't make any sense of it. Tweek started to reach for his cell phone to call his Mom when his father rushed forwards suddenly.

Mr. Tweak moved out from behind the counter, to one of the shelves that was stacked with coffee cups, equipment and other various things for purchase. The brown haired man threw the shelf over, roaring with a voice that sounded nothing like his own; it cracked, it was loud, and it was very primal. The blonde boy shrieked, as he was rather close to the tall shelf and dashed out of the way; avoiding being hit the shelf. Coffee cups, espresso machines, coffee grinders and coffee blends went flying; some were crushed when the shelf hit the floor, some rolled harmlessly to the floor and other things shattered. Tweek stared in horror at his Dad; after he brought the shelf down, he screamed, throwing his head back, clutching at the sides of his head. It looked like he entered a seizure; he shook, his head moving from side to side rapidly, and his fingers tore at his skin. Blood streamed from the now open wounds from his nails, and he continued to scream. moved drunkenly, throwing his head against shelves and it sounded as if there was permanent damage to his head. Mr. Tweak looked up, and Tweek could see his forehead was pouring blood, and it was already starting to bruise. The man threw another shelf over, moving closer towards his son.

Tweak was afraid. He didn't ever remember being this afraid in his entire life. "D...Dad?" He asked quietly, trying to mask the fear his voice. His father stopped, groaning heavily as he did; he was bent over, his head facing Tweek's direction. The blonde trembled, eyes flicking up and around, to his surroundings. Tweek wondered where he could run to if he needed to. threw up again; and to Tweek's horror, it wasn't just _anything_ he was throwing up.

There on the ground, matted with blood, pooling, was what looked like an organ.

Tweek screamed.

stood up, although still hunched over. Tweek pressed himself to the wall, sorry he left his fear get the better of him for screaming. His Dad groaned, although it sounded agitated. The man lunged forward suddenly, launching himself at his son. Tweek shrieked again out of surprise, and managed to dodge his father. caught his balance immediately, and reached out for Tweek, his feet coming to life again, groping the air madly for the blonde. Tweek ran, down the hall for the bathrooms, throwing a door open, not looking back to see where his Dad was. Unfortunately, his Dad was closer than he had anticipated and the sickly man tore at his shoulder, ripping the material of his uniform shirt open, as well as tearing some of the flesh there. Tweek gasped at the pain, but managed to throw himself inside the bathroom and swung the door shut. The man's hand was reaching through the door as he did, and the heavy wooden door slammed onto it, the sound of bones and skin crunching as he did. Mr. Tweak roared, but it didn't seem as if he was in pain; it seemed like it was out of anger. The hand slipped out of the door, and the blonde teen took the opportunity to shut the door and lock it.

"...F-fuck. W-what the fuck? _Gah!_ Oh God...wh-what?" Tweek asked himself, sitting in front of the locked door, dazed, and terrified. There was another scream from outside the door, and it sounded as if was enraged, and there was pounding. The door rattled, and Tweek guessed that his Dad was having a fit against the door, throwing himself against it, slamming his fists upon the surface. Tweek suddenly remembered that he was hurt, and looked at his shoulder with a whimper; the blonde boy scooted away from the door, against a wall. "N-no...oh, God!" Tweek didn't want to do anything about his shoulder; not yet.

The blonde pulled his cell phone out of his pocket; thanking God he had enough sense to keep it there. He dialed the first number that came to his head, with his hands shaking more than they ever had in his life.

"_Hello? Tweek?_" Craig sounded embarrassed.

"Craig!" Tweek practically screamed into the phone. "Help me! F-fuck! O-Oh God, I...I think he w-wants to kill me! _Ngh!_ P-please!"

"_Who does? Tweek, what the hell is going on? Are you okay?_"

Tweek started to cry. "Ngh...Craig! My Dad..._ngh_, he f-fucking attacked me! Jesus, he t-threw up a KIDNEY!" Tweek sobbed into the phone; his shoulder felt like it was on fire.

"_Did he hurt you, Tweek? Are you safe from him right now?_" Craig's voice was suddenly steely.

Unconsciously, Tweek nodded. "_Ugh_. I-I think I am. I'm in the Harbucks bathroom...the d-doors here are heavy, a-and it's locked. _Ngh_." The blonde glanced at his shoulder; it was gushing blood now, and Tweek wondered how he didn't notice before. "S-shit! He tore my s-shoulder open..._ngh_, I haven't done anything to it y-yet. It's fucking g-gushing blood."

Craig gasped. "_Tweek! Put pressure on it, or you'll pass out from the blood loss!_" Craig paused, as if thinking things. "_There's paper towel there, yeah? Just try and stop the bleeding, wrap it up...keep warm. If you bleed enough, you might go into shock. I'll come for you okay? I'll take care of you. It's okay. Call the police, Tweek!"_

Tweek hiccupped into the phone. "O-okay..._ungh._ Thanks, C-Craig. Wait until the p-police get here, okay...? I don't want you to, _ngh_, get hurt." Tweek flinched at another bout of crazy thumps at the door; his Dad had been at the door, shaking it, trying to open it non-stop. The doorknob even rattled sometimes.

"_Jesus. I'll get off the phone now. I'll be there soon with a blanket and first aid crap. Take care of yourself! Call the police now!"_

"Y-yes sir!" Tweek hung up, and the reality of where he was and what was happening hit him hard. Tweek trembled, and dialed the police station, standing, and grabbing paper towel. Tweek took off his shirt as fast as he could, while pressing his ear to the phone as it dialed for the police station.

"_South Park police station. How may I help you?_"

"_Gah!_ I-I'm being attacked! Please, _ngh_, help me!" The blonde had his shirt off, and the bloody garment was over his other shoulder.

"_Where are you, sir?_" There were the sounds of others starting to bustle and it sounded like other voices were barking commands at each other suddenly. "_What's your name? Do you know who's attacking you?_"

The woman on the phone was so calm, Tweek felt like hitting her. He had a shitload of paper towel pressed to his shoulder, and he held it there for dear life; he also had another load of paper towel wrapped around his shoulder. "I-I'm at Harbucks, I work here. I-I locked myself in the bathroom. _Ngh._ I-I-I'm Tweek Tweak, a-and it's my Dad that's attacking me!"

"_We will be there to help you soon, sir. Are you hurt? Should I call for an ambulance?_"

"Y-yeah! H-he tore my shoulder open. I-it's bleeding a lot."

The sounds of people on the other line had intensified, with footsteps and louder voices, and they were fading now; the blonde assumed that officers were being dispatched for his location now. "_Alright. Do you know why your Father attacked you? Was he under any influences?_"

Tweek was starting to shiver; so he attempted to start pulling his shirt back around him. "N-no, he wasn't drunk or, _ngh_, anything. H-he's been seriously sick all day...I-I think it's a f-fever maybe? I-I have no freaking clue! H-he's acting crazy!"

"_Okay sir, remain calm, please. Police will be there to help you shortly. Please try to take care of your injury, and there will be an ambulance to help you soon, as well. Goodbye._" The woman hung up, and Tweek glared at his cell phone, and simply dropped it to the floor, as his hands were coated in his own blood, while he fumbled with his shirt, trying to pull it on again, and trying to press the paper towel to his shoulder.

Mr. Tweak continued to assault the door, screaming, roaring as he did. Tweek slid back down to the floor, wondering why this had happened, why his Dad wasn't asking like the calm, distant father he had grown up to. The blonde looked at his shoulder, as he pulled his shirt closer around him; the blood was seeping through layers and layers of paper towel, and he was feeling a bit light-headed from what he guessed was blood loss. Tweek felt cold, and scared; he pulled his knees to his stomach, trying to warm himself, shaking, and he started to cry again.

Not much longer the police arrived; Tweek could hear them. The pounding against the door had stopped, along with his Dad's unintelligible screams and gurgles. It sounded like the police officers were trying to reason with the sick man; and then screamed again, and Tweek listened as he ran for the police. There were the sounds of crashing, and the yelling of the police officers; and one of them screamed in pain. Tweek flinched, and hugged his legs closer; it sounded like there were only two officers to start with, but it sounded as if a couple more ran in. There were more sounds of thrashing, with glass shattering and a shelf tumbling over again. The blonde's father was yelling, screaming, roaring; and it was muffled suddenly. There was more screaming on Tweek's Dad's part, but it sounded as if the police officers were talking amongst themselves, one sounding particularly pissed.

"Hello? Tweek? Are you in there?"

Tweek jumped at the sound of the police officer's voice. "_Gah!_ Y-yes, I'm in here!"

"It's okay, son. We have your father contained. It's safe to come out now. The ambulance will be here for you in a few minutes." Tweek trembled; he wondered where his Dad was, and what their precious coffee shop had been reduced to due to the struggle. Tweek really didn't want to see quite yet.

"Are you okay? Do you need help in there?" The police officer paused. "Can you move? The door is locked, so for me to help you, I need you to unlock the door. It's okay, your Father won't be hurting you anymore." Tweek winced at the police officer's choice of words.

"_Hey!_ Get out of here, kid!"

"Grab him!"

The men outside were shouting suddenly. The police officer also said something along the lines of, "Hey, what the hell, kid? Get out of here!"

"Tweek! It's Craig! ...It's okay now." That was all the blonde teen needed to hear; he stood quickly, although teetering, dizzy from the amount of blood that had left his body. "Please, come out. I saw your Dad, the police have him..."

Tweek didn't let his best friend continue, as he swung the door open again, and he threw himself into Craig's arms. Craig stumbled back, but caught his balance; first aid materials fell out of Craig's arms, along with a blanket. Tweek didn't really pay attention to the police officer that had tried to coax him out of the bathroom.

"T-Tweek? Are you okay?" The blonde was clutching Craig as well as he could, although he was shaking, and feeling very weak and tired. Craig pulled him out of his grasp a little, while Tweek had started to cry again; it was getting really hard for him to understand what was going on clearly. Craig's violet eyes widened, as he looked Tweek's shoulder over. "Oh, God. Tweek, what the hell did he do to you?"

The police officer had picked up the blanket Craig dropped, and sighed. Tweek looked up at him, and he could recognize him as Bebe Steven's father, with his curly bronze-blonde hair sticking out from his uniform hat, and with a groomed moustache. "Here, son." The man put the blanket around Tweek's thin shoulders, with Tweek nodding in thanks. The blonde stumbled though, almost falling backwards out of Craig's arms, but his friend caught him.

"Shit, Tweek. Come on, you should sit down." They started to lead Tweek down the hall; and there, Tweek could see the mayhem that had enveloped what was practically his home. There was only one out of four shelves standing, with broken cups and machinery lying around the wooden shelves that had fallen. Thankfully, the machines and equipment behind the front counter were untouched, but the rest of the store was a mess. There was the organ his father had puked up, still sitting there, with a couple police officers speculating on it. There were two police cars parked outside of Harbucks; and he could see his father in the back of one, with a bag over his head, and he was thrashing as much as he could restrained. Tweek paled. "Tweek?" Craig looked at him, worried. Tweek could hear his Dad's muffled screams from the car.

An ambulance was sitting outside of the store now, too. Tweek wondered when it had gotten there, but some people entered the store; immediately approaching him. Craig's grip tightened around him, but not by much, it seemed that Craig was very aware of how much pain the blonde was in.

"Come with us, please." One of the three people said that approached him, the other two were readying a stretcher for him. Tweek swayed, trying hard to focus on what was going on. Craig had him by his shoulders, and steered him to the stretcher, where they took Tweek from the other boy's grip.

The blonde's hand shot out after he was laid down for Craig's, and he could feel himself shaking. There were tears...and the taste of something bile in the back of his throat. "Craig." The taller boy's fingers curled around Tweek's bloody hand, and his other cupping the top of the blonde's hand. "Stay with me."

Craig smiled softly. "Of course."

Tweek's vision went black and cloudy, and he dropped out of consciousness.

When he awoke, there was screaming, fluids, needles, stretchers and too many bodies for him to see past. Tweek was lying there, wondering why there was so much screaming, and why he felt wet and sticky, and why he felt so, so sick. People were yelling at each other, and the teenager couldn't make any sense of it. Craig came to mind, and he began to panic.

The blinding light directly overhead made his head ache. "_Nngh!_ Craig! W-where..." Before he could say anymore, he ducked his head and threw up, and realized he was the one screaming. Parts of his body twitched madly, pulsing with angry heat; and from what he could see of himself he had already thrown up all over himself and other places, too. It was thick, green, and foul-smelling. He began to thrash.

"Give me a sedative!" One of the doctors demanded.

There was a needle jabbed into the crook of his elbow, but he didn't even notice the trivial pain in comparison to the rest of his body. Tweek Tweak again dropped out of consciousness.

Some of the first things he could understand even remotely were that he felt numb, and very cold. There were voices, a couple of women talking in muted tones. The blonde was lying down, staring up at a ceiling, wondering where he was and what had happened.

"_...Hgk._" That was the small natural noise of his that gave him away.

"Tweek?"

Tweek looked to his side, to see Craig leaning close to him, his normally apathetic purple eyes filled with worry. Craig had one of his hands gripping his, holding it very softly; Tweek noted the rest of his arm was veiny and hooked up to an IV machine.

"...What happened...?" The blonde's own voice sounded a little alien to him, without the stuttering and usual high-pitched tone; this one was quiet and eerily calm.

Craig reached over and petted his hair with his free hand. "Well...not much after they took you to the hospital. They took care of you. You're okay now, Tweek." Craig's eyes darted away from his for a moment, and the blonde got the feeling Craig wasn't telling him something.

"Oh! Honey, are you okay?"

Mrs. Tweak took notice of her son's awareness just then, turning away from a nurse she had been talking to. She rushed forward, with Craig drawing back into his seat, slouching like he normally did. The brown-haired woman stroked Tweek's hand, kissed his forehead, and petted his hair and face, looking happy and relieved. "Thank goodness you're okay, sweetie...Oh, what would I have done, if..." She trailed off, with moisture gathering in her hazel eyes.

Tweek frowned slightly, feeling very groggy and as if he was missing something important. "Mom...? What's going on? W-what happened?" His mother bit her lip, and a thought slammed into Tweek. "_Where's Dad? W-what happened to him?_"

Mrs. Tweak shook, and bit her lip. "...He's okay now, honey. You're okay. We're...all okay." A tear streamed down her cheek, and Craig moved out of the chair very quietly, walking towards another chair in the corner. Tweek's Mom sat in the chair, not noticing the black-haired boy had moved for her benefit. Tweek watched as his Mom sat there, crying quietly, still holding his hand. "We're okay, Tweek."

The blonde teenager looked at his friend in the corner. One look at Craig's face told Tweek otherwise.

There's going to be more gore, profanity and horror, etc. Lots more.

I finished this chapter a few months ago, haha. I've been super busy though, and unable to update, and I apologize.

If you have any requests, such as pairings, please let me know! I'd appreciate hetero pairing requests, except for Stan x Wendy and Kyle x Bebe. As much as I love slash, too many slash pairings seems...unrealistic. If you _do_ have any slash requests however, let me know! I won't do Kenny x Butters, Craig x Clyde or Token x Clyde though, sorry.

_~Morte Candy_.


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